Various craft articles similar to that disclosed herein are known in the art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,514,175 to Zaruba, et al. discloses a reusable craft kit which comprises a rigid background board with a playful design depicted on its front surface. Various portions of the design are defined by openings in the background board which extend through its depth. Backing pieces that conform in shape to the openings extending through the background board, but which are slightly smaller than the openings are included in the kit. These backing pieces may be covered with padding and an appropriately colored fabric and inserted into the corresponding holes in the background board to allow the artisan to add a personal touch to the depicted design. When the backing pieces are covered by padding and fabric and inserted into the corresponding openings, the peripheral edges of the fabric become wedged between the circumferential edge of the backing piece and the defining edge of the corresponding opening to frictionally secure the covered backing pieced within the background board. By completing the craft set in this fashion, one can create a design having three-dimensional accentuated areas.
Because the craft kit disclosed in the Zaruba patent depends upon the frictional relationship between the background board and the associated backing pieces to secure the padded sections to the background board, there must of necessity be portions of the design which remain uncovered by padding or fabric. Accordingly, only various portions of the overall design can be depicted in a three-dimensional manner.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,814,218 to Shane discloses a quilted craft article and method for making the same. The disclosed article comprises a substrate in which slits on the surface define a pattern for the quilted article and individual sections of the overall pattern. In the method, the quilted craft article is adorned with preselected pieces of fabric by selecting fabric pieces corresponding in shape to, yet are slightly larger than, the individual sections of the pattern. Accordingly, the peripheral edges of the fabric sections can be grippingly fastened to the substrate material by tucking the peripheral edges of the fabric sections into the slits and thus into the interior of the substrate.
Although the craft article disclosed in the Shane patent overcomes the problems associated with the Zaruba article, i.e. that only portions of the overall design may be covered by the fabric, the Shane construction has proven undesirable in practice because the "gripping" engagement of the fabric sections provided within the slits formed in the substrate lacks sufficient strength to maintain the integrity of the craft article over an extended period of time. That is, the tucked edges of the fabric sections are free to become disengaged from the substrate, and over time tend to do so, thus destroying the aesthetic nature of the craft article.
In addition, the Shane construction is ornamentally undesirable because it yields a flat or two-dimensional product lacking a truly soft or "cushioned" appearance.
Another craft article similar to that disclosed by Shane is known in the art, but is not the subject of a patent. This article avoids the undesirable aesthetic attributes which burden the Shane construction by employing a loose-fill padding layer between the substrate and fabric layer. This construction supplies the desired "cushioned" appearance, yet does not solve, and in fact aggravates, the integrity problem which renders the Shane construction impractical. In addition, because this approach contemplates a loose-fill padding layer, it is attended by an untidy fabrication process as well as a similarly untidy problem should the fabric sections eventually become dislodged from the substrate. Furthermore and also due to the loose nature of the padding material used in this type of construction, the "cushioned" areas in this type of craft article are prone to lose their uniform shape and appearance with age. Such undesirable attributes are the result of movement of the padding material within the "cushioned" areas in response to, for example, rough handling or gravity.
Accordingly, it is the object of the present invention to provide a fabric craft article that overcomes the problems associated with these conventional articles, yet one which can be simply and economically produced.
More particularly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a fabric craft article having a three-dimensional topography across its entire face, while at the same time maintaining the structural integrity of the article over extended periods of time.